When I was deciding what tablet I wanted, I compared the iPad with a lot of others and ended up getting a Toshiba Thrive. It comes in 10" and 7", has full size SD port, USB port and an HDMI port (I think both full size HDMI and mini HDMI). I really like the fact that I can put movies on my SD card and just pop them into the Thrive.

At the time I was looking, iPad could not handle flash (don't know if that has changed) so I chose a tablet that could run flash since I like using it for surfing the web as well, and a lot of online games seem to be flash.

One caveat - if you get an Android, don't update it past Honeycomb if you want to stream Amazon instant videos. I updated to Ice Cream Sandwich and could no longer stream my Prime videos. Amazon told me they don't plan to support ICS for their videos. All worked out well, as I had a friend order herself a Thrive and we just swapped so I could stick with the old OS and she could use ICS.

Anyway, all that to say, look around at other tablets as well, there are a lot of options out there! (Oh and the Thrive is also cheaper than the iPad.)

I think I paid under three hundred for it at Best Buy last December. It has 32g, Flash Compatible, HDMI compatible and perhaps just a little heavier that and Ipad. It's Android OS, there is a separate keyboard you can purchase and turn it into a netbook, but the kid didn't want it.

This really is a nifty, affordable device. He also uses it as a ereader, so no problems there.

My IL's house was struck by lightning and their computer got fried recently. FIL does most of his computer stuff at work, and MIL is scared of technology, so we talked her into getting an iPad to replace it. She didn't want something used with a questionable warranty, so we ended up getting her a new iPad 2 for $399. That's only slightly more than we paid for our (used) iPad 1 nine months ago, so not bad at all. There are several upgraded models and refurbished ones available on the Apple site, which are worth looking at, but we came to the conclusion that a) we/she really didn't need the extra memory since nearly everything is stored on the cloud anyway, and b) we weren't planning to pay for a data plan so we didn't need the 3G capabilities. I do wish ours had a camera/microphone, but not enough to actually upgrade :-)

The iPad still can't display flash animations, which is not as big a deal as it used to be - a lot of sites are migrating away from flash for that very reason.

I'm looking at getting a tablet soon myself. I would say don't tie yourself to an iPad just yet. As other PP's have said, there are other tablets out there, and this is the time for new offerings to come out, in time for the holidays. Google is apparently going to be announcing a new version of it's Nexus next week, and the Nexus gets absolutely rave reviews. Microsoft is debuting it's Surface tablet on Friday (I'm leaning towards this right now personally), and that's supposed to have some super features available.

I have a Kindle Fire right now, which I love, but the downfall for me is it's small memory. I'm not always near a wifi connection, so I'd like to have the ability to download a whole bunch of stuff and view it while I don't have a connection. With my Fire, I'm always afraid that I'm going to run out of space, so I don't download as much, and consequently run through all the things I have, with no chance of getting more since I'm not near wifi.

As someone who owns a windows phone (windows 7) I'd stay away from the microsoft tablet. My biggest complaint about my phone is the lack of apps. If you want a tablet with lots of fun apps I'd go with the iPad (the only Android thing we have is my wifes phone and the undeleteablt bloatware is frustrating as all get out)

We will be buying one on Friday, thinking refurb iPad2 with either 32 or 64g memory depending on what they have (I think 32 would be fine for us, but if they have 64 in stock we'd take that as more memory is better than less memory)

I'm looking at getting a tablet soon myself. I would say don't tie yourself to an iPad just yet. As other PP's have said, there are other tablets out there, and this is the time for new offerings to come out, in time for the holidays. Google is apparently going to be announcing a new version of it's Nexus next week, and the Nexus gets absolutely rave reviews. Microsoft is debuting it's Surface tablet on Friday (I'm leaning towards this right now personally), and that's supposed to have some super features available.

I have a Kindle Fire right now, which I love, but the downfall for me is it's small memory. I'm not always near a wifi connection, so I'd like to have the ability to download a whole bunch of stuff and view it while I don't have a connection. With my Fire, I'm always afraid that I'm going to run out of space, so I don't download as much, and consequently run through all the things I have, with no chance of getting more since I'm not near wifi.

I just got a new laptop (for free, from Choctaw Nation, yay!) so I decided to stick with my Kindle Fire for now. Ultimately, I will probably look for another tablet, but not until I graduate. (One more year). I appreciate all the advice! Thank you!

I do think I would like the iPad mini, better though, because of it's size. That is one thing I really love about my Fire, it is just so easy to slip it into my purse and take it on the go. It was especially nice in May, when I flew to Colorado. I took my backpack and a purse slung across me as my carryons, and put the backpack in the overhead bins. My kindle fire fit quite nicely in that small purse.

I have a ton of books and lots of information stored in the Notes and Contacts and go online with it a lot. It sync with my iPhone.

I wouldn't trade it for anything, and if it dies, I will replace it with a new iPad.

Tip: to disable the autocorrect (you know how awful that is, don't you?):

Settings / General / Keyboard / slide Autocorrect to off. (That is the sequence for iPhone 4 and iPhone 5, too, so think it probably is consistent.)

Stupid thing kept trying to correct even names and addresses! Smyth to Smith, Maine to Main, Jon to John. I spent more time correcting the autocorrect than I did entering the information to begin with. Of course, regular writing was just as bad, but I don't remember all of them. I left spellcheck on, so that is fine.

Thank you Luci! I have the problem with autocorrect on my fire, and I hate it! I still do want an iPad, very much actually, and will probably get one when I graduate. I will have some extra money coming in then that I can use to get one.